Baraza

Category: Africa, South Africa, Uganda, big cats, hunting, tourism | Date: Oct 19 2009 | By: Maina

Recently, as is usually the case, a passionate discussion erupted here at Baraza following a post about Uganda’s sport hunting plan. While I believe that Uganda’s plan to get into sport hunting is unwise, not all agreed with me. Although the ‘to hunt or not to hunt’ debate is not anywhere near the end, when a new voice comes in, a new view emerges. Most of the time, this new view continues to discredit this barbaric and unnecessary so called ’sport’.

A lion in Kenya (photo courtesy of Ewaso Lions)

Some time ago, an article appeared on Bloomberg.com showing the dilemma that South Africa has found itself in after a court ruling more or less banned canned the so called hunting. Now they are grappling with some 3,000 odd lions that have been bred in captivity for the sole purpose of being shot by foreign tourists at the price of  $22,000 per lion. As Mike Cohen writes on Blomberg:

“Lions bred for hunting are often shot after just a few days in the wild. In captivity they are mostly fed on donkey meat bought from rural communities. After their release from breeding cages they catch and eat game that the farmers have acquired for their estates.”

This case exposes one of the hidden vices of sport hunting - canned hunting - a cruel and mindless practice that should never have seen the light of day.

When the sport hunting becomes popular in Uganda for instance, the chances are that many ranchers will want to convert their land into wildlife producing factories where, say, lions can be bred for shooting or antelopes can be bred for feeding the lions. Eventually, someone will challenge canned hunting in Uganda and they will find themselves in the same situation that South Africa is in presently.

Kenyans are currently bothered by there being only 2,100 lions in the country and that if they continue losing the lions at the current rate of 100 lions a year, they will have no lions in 20 years. South Africa on the other hand has more lions than Kenya but they are hunting them at a higher rate, and Tanzania is even worse. Cohen says

More than 300 lions are hunted in South Africa every year, with trophy hunters coming from countries including the U.S., Russia and Spain. That makes South Africa the second-biggest destination for lion hunting after Tanzania, where wild lions are shot. About 1,000 lions are hunted each year in Africa. 

You should note that South Africa has not stopped hunting of lions. Only canned hunting - which more or leas means the captive breeding of lions for the sole purpose of being shot - has been made illegal by the court of law. Of course, the greedy business people who make millions from this ugly business have appealed to have the court ruling overturned. What did you expect?

They are even using the prospects of losing some 5,000 jobs as a reason why canned hunting should be reinstated. They even have an association for that. Cohen writes:

The South African Predator Breeders Association has warned that the judgment may shut an industry that employs 5,000 people because farmers can’t afford to keep lions on their estates for long periods of time due to the cost of the antelopes they would eat. It also argued that the lions may need to be euthanized as the legislation reduced their commercial value.  

Let’s see how the court handles this.

Tags: Africa, Bloomberg.com, canned hunting, captive breeding, hunting, Kenya, Lion, South Africa, sport hunting, Uganda

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Category: Africa, Gorillas, In the News, Uganda, hunting, wildlife, wildlifedirect | Date: Oct 15 2009 | By: Maina

Conservationists are taken aback over Uganda’s re-introduction of sport hunting in selected areas outside of designated protected areas. Conservationists from Nature Uganda and WildlifeDirect voiced their concerns over Uganda’s claim that they have enough wildlife to sustainably practice this consumptive use of wildlife. Ben Simon of AFP has the complete story.

Uganda under fire over legalized big game hunting

By Ben Simon (AFP)

KAMPALA — Outraged conservationists said on Wednesday that Uganda had neither enough game nor adequate control mechanisms to reintroduce sport hunting on animals such as elephant and buffalo.

Animal and environmental protection groups were angered by the Uganda Wildlife Authority’s (UWA) decision to sell shooting licences in a bid to boost tourism revenue.

“I do not believe that Uganda has enough game animals to sustain sport hunting,” Samuel Maina, of Nairobi-based WildlifeDirect, told AFP.

UWA spokeswoman Lillian Nsubuga said population levels had recovered from years of war in some areas and argued that ending the decades-old ban would contain crop-crunching elephants and buffalos while creating jobs.

Maina voiced doubts that the 90 percent loss of the large mammal population during the unstable 70s and 80s had been reversed.

“Sport hunting is thus likely to be unsustainable in the designated hunting areas and there is a likelihood that to sustain this lucrative sector, Uganda will have to extend hunting into protected areas,” he said.

Achilles Byaruhanga of Nature Uganda, a Kampala-based advocacy group, also judged the initiative to be dangerous because it is impossible to know the real strength of big game populations.

“I would want to ask UWA: Where is your data and your information coming from? Just because some animals have moved out of a wildlife reserve doesn’t mean their numbers are strong enough for sport hunting,” he told AFP.

UWA chief Moses Mapesa said that big game hunting was happening already and that the plan was simply for Uganda to benefit from it.

“In the absence of controlled hunting we have had a loss of animals and a loss of potential revenue,” he said.

But Byaruhanga argued that the reintroduction of legal hunting was unlikely to stop illegal hunting by needy local communities or create enough guide jobs to provide a viable alternative.

Maina also warned that Uganda had not proven it had the capacity to control the hunting effectively.

“Hunting-law enforcement is going to be difficult when new hunting blocks are opened. I doubt UWA has enough personnel and machinery to prevent abuse of the hunting licenses and concessions,” he said.

Maina also argued that sport hunting was incompatible with the east African country’s current attempts to enhance its international image as a destination for ecotourism, with gorillas the main attraction.

“Ecotourism and sport hunting are more or less mutually exclusive. Ecotourists do not want to go to places where wildlife is being killed,” he told AFP.

“The growth of sport hunting tourism will give Uganda a bad name as an ecotourism destination and is thus likely to reduce earnings from ecotourism including gorilla tracking,” he added.

Tags: conservation, ecotourism, illegal hunting, Nature Uganda, sport hunting, tourism, Uganda, Uganda Wildlife Authority, wildlife

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Category: Albertine Rift Project, Gorillas, Rwanda, Uganda, wildlifedirect | Date: Apr 06 2009 | By: Maina

The MacArthur Foundation-funded Albertine Rift project shifted gear on 24 March 2009 as WildlifeDirect organized the first ever wildlife blogger training in Kampala, Uganda. It was revolutionary in many ways. Many of the participants not having blogged before, they were quite keen to learn all they could about this experience.

Victor explains a point

The training was attended by various individuals representing the civil society as well as governmental organizations in environment and conservation during the two days that it was conducted. They included representatives of the Albertine Rift conservation Society, the Uganda Nile Discourse Forum, Makerere university, Wildlife Clubs of Uganda, the Uganda Environmental Education Foundation, the country’s wildlife authority, Uganda Wildlife Authority, the Kikandwa Environmental Association, and several community-based organisations.

The training took the form of a day of lectures and practical activities, the first step introducing the new bloggers to the Wordpress dashboard and how to use it to create a blog post and the second step teaching how to blog well. Victor Ngeny took the trainees through the initial step which was done in an interactive manner allowing the trainees to practice what they learn in real time. No wonder a few of their mock-up blog posts showed up in Baraza and caused a little confusion.

Samuel Maina would then take over the next session which, as interactive as the first one, would teach the new bloggers the elements of a good blog post and how to improve their writing so that they can attract and retain readers. They were also taught how to frame their calls for action such that they were credible and likely to elicit positive response from the readers.

Participants during a practical exercise

Masumi Gudka, who would first introduce each training session, would mostly introduce the new bloggers to WildlifeDirect as an organization and prepare the bloggers for what to some would be a lifetime experience. The participants would also be shown a short video, featuring non other than the Dr Richard Leakey, that explained what WildlifeDirect does.

Amid the tasty teas and open interactions between the training team and the trainees, a new and huge thing was developing. We were building a new community of conservationists from one of the most biodiverse ecoregions in Africa: The Albertine Rift. You can expect to read from the new bloggers we trained soon. Expect good quality posts.

Some of the participants pause for a group photo

From  Kampala, the trainers headed to Buhoma, the southwestern Uganda district where the world renowned Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is located. The experience there was different. Being rural and close to a national park - with gorillas in it - the experience must definitely be so much different from that in Kampala City. That is why I will tell you about this experience tomorrow.

Tags: Albertine Rift Project, blogger, Buhoma, Kampala, training, Uganda, Wordpress

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Category: Africa, Ivory, Trade, elephants, enforcement, wildlife trade | Date: Mar 26 2009 | By: admin

Hello friends,

It’s Paula here. Things seem to be getting worse and worse on the ivory and elephant killing front. One ton of ivory has been seized in Bangkok, it’ is said to have come from Uganda. Of course this, like the 6 tons of ivory from Tanzania seized in Vietnam, is unlikely to be of Ugandan (or Tanzanian) origin.

We suspect that this ivory comes from DR Congo where the elephant population has crashed from 100,000 individuals 50 yeas ago to fewer than 20,000 today. That’s death rate of 1,600 elephants per year. Amazing that none of the usual organizations, WWF, AWF, CITES and IUCN seem to be concerned.

The original article is below but is so full of errors that I’ve highlighted them in bold

Ugandan ivory seized in Thailand

New Vision

24th March, 2009

A TONNE of Ugandan ivory has been impounded in Bangkok, Thailand, the

biggest seizure of illegal animal products from the country in recent times.

The Police questioned two Ugandan Entebbe-based clearing officials over

the contraband valued at $300,000 (sh609m). The suspected exporter, Lois

Smith, believed to be a Congolese, is on the run, reports Gerald Tenywa.

Officially ivory is worth between $100 - $150 / kg. On the blackmarket surprisingly it is ten times this value in Vietnam.

Samuel Mukiibi of Palm Agencies, a clearing and forwarding company and

Ronald Sabwe of Entebbe Handling Services (ENHAS) allegedly cleared the

cargo on January 13.

Catherine Kusemererwa, the head of the Entebbe Airport Police, said the

cargo was handled by ENHAS. But the company’s chief, Georges Tytens,

refused to comment.

The last time such a huge consignment of ivory was seized was in 2002 in

China. It was from the DR Congo transited through Uganda and Kenya. In

June 2001, 213kg of ivory was impounded at Entebbe. Nobody was arrested

and the destination of the contraband was not known.

Asked about the Thai contraband, the Civil Aviation Authority denied

responsibility for clearing the shipment. Spokesperson Ignie Igundura

said it was the duty of the Uganda Revenue Authority.

The tax body’s spokesperson Paul Kyeyune expressed ignorance about the

issue. “Do you have any information?” he asked.

Kusemererwa said the case had been under investigation for two months

and that the key suspects were still at large.

Moses Mapesa, the head of the Uganda Wildlife Authority, condemned the

trade in ivory. “We want the Police to address the menace and the

culprits apprehended,” he said.

Amazing how everyone is passing the buck !!!

He said over 10 elephants could have been killed to get the tonne of

ivory, which he suspected came from the DR Congo.

Mapesa is wrong here - the average ivory per elephant is 10 - 20 kg. Therefore, one ton of ivory represents 50 - 100 elephants - we need to know the number of pieces of ivory. Uganda has very few elephants remaining.

He said it was impossible to kill such numbers of elephants in Uganda’s

protected areas without being detected.

Elephants are an endangered species that will become extinct if nothing

is done to control trade in trophies from their bodies.

The trade was banned under the Convention on International Trade in

Endangered Species after poachers reduced elephant population in Africa

from 1.3 million in 1980 to just 600,000 in 1989.

However, the ban was undermined when the convention allowed South Africa

and Zimbabwe to export ivory, citing an elephant population explosion in

the region. Elephants tusks are sold to the wealthy as ornaments.

A kilogramme goes for $300 (sh609,000) in China and the Far East, the

biggest destinations. It goes for $1,800 in Vietnam

Most illegal ivory in Uganda is said to come from Congo and the Sudan,

although the trade is spreading into Uganda.

Regional wildlife agencies and the International Police last November

launched an operation in Central, West and East African countries.

They seized 30kg of ivory in Ishasha, Kampala and Anaka. The Ishasha

ivory is believed to have come from the Congolese Vicuña National Park.

Congo Vicuña National Park???? I think they mean Virunga!

Article at the following link:

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/675746

Tags: Bangkok, CITES, illegal trade, INTERPOL, Ivory, LATF, Thailand, Uganda, Virunga, wildlifedirect

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Category: WildlifeDirect news | Date: Feb 16 2009 | By: baraza

Myself, Victor and Enoch departed on a visit to Uganda and Rwanda in an attempt to expand the awareness about WildlifeDirect through the Albertine Rift Region and meet various conservation organisations who could join our network and blog. We left from Nairobi on the 20th by bus and started our journey through the various towns and villages on the western side of Kenya to our destination, Kampala. We had a 15 minute stop in Kisumu before we got to the Busia border between Kenya and Uganda. Immigration forms in hand, we crossed the border. On the Ugandan side the woman behind the glass pane laughed when I gave her my passport, asking, ‘are you really a kenyan?’ I get that a lot, being a forth generation Indian, Kenyan which surprises me considering the history of East Africa. The landscape was a steady progression from tea and coffee plantations of Kericho, the urban development of Kisumu, grass plains and banana plantations of the Ugandan country side to the urban capital, Kampala. The whole journey took us 14 hours in total and as you can imagine we were shattered by the time we arrived in Kampala.

Banana plantations in the Ugandan countryside.

The next morning our meetings begun with a drive to the famous Makerere University to meet with Richard Asaba who may become the WildlifeDirect representative and support person for bloggers in Uganda. Once my feeling of great awe and nostalgia of being at this symbolic place of East African history had dissipated i was able to get down to business.

Richard, his assistant Richard and Enoch at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Makerere University, Kampala.

Richard, Enoch and me at Veterinary Faculty in Makerere University.

Victor, Me, Enoch, Dr. Innocent Rwego and Richard on an impromptu meeting outside the University.

The next few days we spent making appointments and travelling from one organisation to another on all sides of Kampala, while almost getting stuck in a flood on the highway. We tried taking photos to demonstrate the severity of it for the purpose of the blog but it was a new camera and getting the hang of it while in a moving car was proving to be more of a challenging task than we thought. Don’t be alarmed at the poor quality of our photos for the series of posts on our Albertine Rift Visit.

Torrential downpour in Kampala, a view from our taxi windscreen.

An attempt to capture the flooded roads after 15minutes of heavy rainfall.

Tags: MacArthur Foundation, Makerere, Partnerships, Uganda, wildlifedirect

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Category: National Parks and protected areas, Uncategorized, enforcement | Date: Jan 06 2009 | By: Maina

The partnership that manages Garamba National Park which consists of the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) and the African Parks Network, has issued a press release about the attack on the Park headquarters by Lords Resistance Army of the Ugandan rebel, Joseph Kony on which Paula reported in her post earlier today. Garamba park rangers were poised to start blogging at WildlifeDirect presently, but before that, we at Baraza would like to help them convey this urgent message.

Rangers at Nagero Station that was attacked (Photo (c) African Parks Network)

Press release
6 January 2009

On 2 January 2009, the headquarters of Garamba National Park, located in Nagero, Democratic Republic of Congo, have been attacked by the Ugandan rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army.

Despite strong resistance by the park rangers together with elements from the Congolese Armed Forces, numerous casualties and material damages have been incurred. A first report mentions 8 people killed, including two park rangers and two wives of wardens, and 13 injured, most of them by bullets. An unconfirmed number of rebels have also been killed or wounded.

Several essential buildings of the headquarters have also been destroyed, along with many items of transport and communications equipment, and stocks of fuel and food rations.

“The headquarters in Nagero are in a state of havoc” mentions the Chief Warden Bernard Iyomi who directed the resistance during the attack and who narrowly escaped death. “The heroic behaviour of our rangers and wardens has prevented an ever heavier death toll”.

It will take several days before these first figures are confirmed, once the management team has completed the final assessment.

Military and humanitarian assistance is being rapidly deployed in order to secure the area and to help the populations displaced by the attack.

“We strongly condemn this attack launched by the LRA, and request the military authorities of the region and the international community to continue their involvement in solving this problem caused by the rebel group for so many years” says Mr Cosma Wilungula, the head of the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN).

“Our immediate concern is for the safety and wellbeing of our people, particularly those that are injured. Thereafter we will immediately begin rebuilding the administrative base and staff morale, both of which are essential for the continued management of this important park” adds Mr Peter Fearnhead, the Executive Director of African Parks.

Background information

Garamba National Park (NP) is located in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo along the border with Sudan. The park was established in 1938 by a Belgian royal decree as one of the first national parks in Africa, and has been associated with the elephant domestication centre created in the 1920s in Gangala-na-Bodio. The park has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980.

Garamba NP is surrounded by three game hunting reserves – Azande to the west, Gangala na Bodio to the south and Mondo Missa to the east. The total area of the Garamba complex is 12427 km², including 4900 km² for the park itself.

The Garamba complex still harbours populations of elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, hippos and numerous other species of ungulates. The presence of the Northern white rhinoceros still needs to be confirmed.

The ICCN (Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature) is the governmental authority in charge of the management and conservation of protected areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The ICCN controls a network that accounts for about 10% of the total land area of the country, including 7 national parks (among them 5 World Heritage sites) and numerous reserves.

African Parks Network is a private foundation based in Johannesburg (South Africa) and specialised in the management of protected areas. African Parks is currently active in 5 national parks and reserves across Africa. African Parks has officially assumed the management mandate for Garamba National Park on 12 November 2005, in partnership with ICCN.

Besides African Parks, Garamba National Park currently receives financial assistance from the European Union, the Spanish, Italian and Belgian governments, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Technical or scientific support is also provided by UNESCO, IUCN (World Conservation Union), United Nations for the Environment Programme and Fauna & Flora International.

Contacts :

For ICCN (Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature) :
Pasteur Cosma Wilungula, Administrateur Délégué Général
pdg.iccn@yahoo.fr
+243 998 97 6686

For African Parks Network
Dr. José Kalpers, Country coordinator for DRC
jkalpers@gmail.com
+254 737 576232
+32 495 141348

Tags: African Parks Network, DRC, Garamba Nationa Park, ICCN, LRA, rangers, Uganda

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